MAPPING MARLBOROUGH
TINA GELLIE
‘Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is not one-sizefits-all,’ says winemaker Matt Thomson of Blank Canvas. ‘But how do we explain our distinct sub-regional identities without a tool to do so?’ And so the was born. Thomson, at New Zealand’s High Commission in London for the map’s UK launch in May, championed its development, concerned that without one a long-held myth would be perpetuated. ‘It doesn’t all taste the same,’ he says, ‘and it’s dangerous to let people continue to think that.’ Blank Canvas is one of 54 members of Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW), created in 2018 to protect the integrity, authenticity and brand value of the region’s wines.
